An outline of structural geology / Краткий обзор структурной геологии

Structural geology deals with ways in which rocks respond to the application of deforming forces and with the structures that result from deformation. The subject is complicated by the enormous range of chemical and mineralog-ical compositions that rocks may have and the large range in physical and chemical environments in which deformation occurs. Each rock type possesses different mechanical properties, and these properties depend on the conditions under which deformation takes place. The result is a great variety of responses that manifest themselves in the diverse structures displayed in the crust of the earth. It is, of course, these structures — such as various types of folds, faults, foliations, lineations, and joints — that are of direct interest to the field geologist and of greatest importance for delineating the form of an ore body, the extent of an oil field, or the structural history of an area <...>